Year: 1969
Nominees: Stanley Kubrick ("2001: A Space Odyssey"), Gillo Pontecorvo ("The Battle of Algiers"), Anthony Harvey ("The Lion in Winter"), Carol Reed ("Oliver!"), Franco Zeffirelli ("Romeo and Juliet")
Who won: Carol Reed
Who should have: Stanley Kubrick
Why: It's fairly obvious looking at that line-up that the Academy went with the weakest contender of the bunch, but I suppose they were compelled. After all, "Oliver!" won six Oscars, including Best Picture. Today, though, Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece is comfortably considered not only one of the greatest films ever made but a milestone of the cinema. It picked up a lonely prize for Best Visual Effects (the only statuette Kubrick himself ever earned), but I'll bet the Academy would like to go back and give it more than just this prize. But this one is glaring enough to deserve mention here.

-Kristopher Tapley